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A67649
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Dr. Stillingfleet's principles of Protestancy cleared, confuted, and retorted And the infallibility of the Roman-Catholick Church asserted; and that the same church alone is the whole Catholick church. In a letter from a Catholick gentleman to a Protestant knight.
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Warner, John, 1628-1692.
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1673
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Wing W911; ESTC R219411
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19,248
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38
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sequels from the former The 24. 25. and 26. Propositions have not any thing worth our taking notice of Proposition XXVII The nature of certainty doth receive several names eiâ—â—â—â— according to the nature of the proof or the degrees of 〈…〉 Thus moral certainty may be so called either c. 〈◊〉 the 27. Proposition the Authour declares that â—â—â—â—stianity is morally certain that is it implys a firm Asâ—ent upon the highest evidence that moral things can receive This seems to involve a contradiction How can our Assent be sufficiently firm for Faith and exclude all doubts and fears of Falshood as Christian Faith must if its certainty be only moral though in the highest degree of moral certainty For the highest degree of moral certainty doth not include an absolute impossibility of the contrary So that Dr. Stillingfleet must confesse 't is possible his Faith may be false and the Scriptures a Fable though he be morally certain in the highest degree it is not so Hence followeth against the 28. Proposition that a Christian having no more then moral certainty in the Highest degree that the Scriptures are the Word of God his Faith cannot be resolved into the Veracity of God as the ground of his believing because the Veracity of God excludes all Fallacy and possibility of Falshood and includes not only the highest degree of moral but of Metaphysical certainty and by consequence every assent of Faith grounded thereupon and reduced thereunto must be of the same nature The 29. Proposition confines Gods Revelations to Scripture only without proof or pretext for so bold an assertion as we have manifested in confuting the 14. Proposition Proposition XXX There can be no better way to prevent mens mistakes in the sence of Scripture which men being fallible are subject to then the considering the consequence of mistaking in a matter wherein their salvation is concerned and there can be no sufficient reason given why that may not serve in matter of faith which God himself hath made use of as the means to keep men from sin in their lives unless any imagin that Errors in opinion are more dangerous to mens souls then a vicious life is and therefore that God is bound to take more care to prevent the one then the other This 30. and last Proposition doth not agree with the 15. and 18. For in the 15. the Author maintains that no sober Enquirer into the Scriptures can miss of what is necessary for salvation and from thence concludes there can be no necessity supposed of any infallible Society of men or of the Church of England to attest or explain Scripture To what purpose then are Bishops Deans Chapters and Pastors or at least their Revenues and Tythes May not this bring Dr. Stillingfleet under the suspicion and censure of being rather a Prevaricator then Assertor of the Church of England and an Impugner of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy His 18. Proposition also destroys this 30. as you may see by comparing both in the 18. he says God hath promised to them who use their best endeavours or means to understand the Scriptures that either they shall not erre or they shall not be damn'd for it From whence it follows 1. That Scripture is obscure even in matters necessary for salvation contrary to the 15. Proposition 2. That they need not fear being damn'd and therefore need not be concerned for erring which is contrary to this 30. Proposition and indeed to all Christianity whereof St. Paul says it is one of the first principles that without faith it is impossible to please God and that Faith is the substance and foundation of Religion and hopes of salvation In this sense it 's certain that errours in opinion are for more dangerous then a vicious life is both because here ie is the worst of vices and because it is more difficult to recover true Faith once lost then to repent of any other sins You have seen D. Stillingfleets â—rincâ—ples cleared and confuted Now you shall see them retorted against himself in his own Conclusions Conclusion I. There is no necessity at all or use of an infallible society of men to assure men of the truth of those things which they may be certain of without it and cannot have any greater assurance supposing such Infallibility to be in them Conclusion II. The Infallibility of that society of men who call themselves the Catholick Church must be examined by the same faculties an man the same Rules of tryal the same motives by which the Infallibility of any Divine Revelation is Conclusion III. The lesse convincing the Miracles the more doubtful the Marks the more obscure the sence of either what is called the Catholick Church or declared by it the lesse reason hath any Christian to beleeve upon the account of any who call themselves by the name of the Catholick Church Conclusion IV. The more absurd any Opinions are and repugnant to the first Principles of sence and reason which any Church obtrudes upon the faith of men the greater reason men still have to reject the pretence of Infallibility in that Church as a grand Imposture Conclusion V. To disown what is so taught by such a Church is not to question the Veracity of God but so firmly to adhere to it as to what he hath revealed in Scriptures that men dare not out of love to their souls reject what is so taught THe First Conclusion hath been retorted in the 30. Proposition against the Church of England which Dr. Stillingfleet undertakes to maintain because if an infallible Church be superfluous much more superfluous must the Church of England be that is confessedly fallible Nay it must be dangerous because by the Laws of the Land which confirm it and by the Benefices and Revenues that enrich it men may be induced to follow false doctrine whereunto as a fallible Church it may leade them The 2. Conclusion deprives the Church and State of England of all hopes of peace and quiet because if a Church pretending with good grounds to Infallibility must be judged and censured by every private mans 〈◊〉 and discretion much more a Church that acknowledgeth to be fallible and yet both reason and experience demonstrate that no Church or Common-wealth can be peaceable wherein every private person is permitted to be a Judge of its Laws or of its Religion The 3. Conclusion absolutely destroys the Church of England because it doth not as much as pretend to Miracles nor supernatural visible marks nor to the name of the Catholick Church and by D. Stillingfleets consequence no Christian ought to believe upon the account of 〈◊〉 Church The 4. Conâ—â—â—sion is also destructive to the Church of England because nothing is more repugnant to the first principles of sence and reason then that a Church confessedly fallible should pretend to direct men to the inâ—allible certainty of Christian Faith and that men 〈◊〉 be compelled by Laws and penalties to hazard their salvation by
is very sincere or much inclined to truth and averse from falshood will not permit any one if he can help it to abuse his name or authority by counterfeiting his Commissions or Seals much less can it be imagined by any sober person that God who is sincerity and truth it self would permit he being omnipotent the Roman-Catholick Church to abuse his sacred Name and assume his authority by counterfeit Seals or false Miracles and thereby to seduce the world for so many ages as that Church hath been prudently taken to be the sole true Church of God So that you must grant 1. The Roman-Catholick Miracles approved of in the Bulls of Canonization of Saints to be true and by consequence it self to be infallibly assisted by God independently of and antecedently to any words of Scripture and if the Miracles be true there can be no dispute of the Truth of its Doctrine or of the authenticknesse of its Commission 2. You must grant that if its Miracles were false there could be no proof or faith of Gods Veracity this being inconsistent with the permission of a cheat so apparently supernatural We resolve therefore Christian and Catholick Faith into this Assertion or Assent and Assurance Gods Veracity being Infinite I do most firmly and undoubtedly beleeve that God will never permit any falshood to be proposed as his Word or Revelation with such appearance of Miracles and such signs of his approbation as the Roman-Catholick Church proposeth its Doctrine and Infallibility And therefore whatsoever the same Church doth propose as Gods Word or Revelation I do most firmly and undoubtedly beleeve as the real Word and Revelation of God To this universal Assent or Assertion are reduced all the particular Assents or Articles of Catholick Faith without any kinde of that circle which Schoolmen so much dread in the resolution of faith Neither is there any circle in proving the evident credibility of the Roman-Catholick Church by its Miracles and the truth of its Miracles by the approbation of the same Church 1. Because we prove the Credibility of the Church by the sole moral appearance that our Miracles are Divine before they are believed to be Divine by supernatural faith 2. Because both the truth of our Miracles and the Infallibility of our Church are proved by the Infinitenesse of Gods Veracity which is not consistent with a permission of our Miracles being false or of our Church being fallible as hath been hitherto declared As to the Second part of the 17. Proposition it 's manifest to common sense that doubts and disputes are with more ease and clearness resolved by an infallible body of men then by an obscure though infallible Writing Men may hear and answer difficulties and doubts a Book even the Bible cannot because we prove it is obscure even after all conferences of texts and Examinations of the able Scripturists by reason of the differences in opinion concerning the true sence thereof The 18. Proposition is grounded upon the falshood of the 17. and therefore needeth no other confutation but as to what it says God had promiâ—ed to particular men who endeavour to understand Scripture that either they shall not err or if they shall they shall not be damn'd for it is but a fancy of Dr. Stillingfleet without any proof or colour of truth and contrary to Christs commands of hearing and obeying the Church The 19. Proposition contains only a false supposition confuted in the 17. and an inclination in D. Stillingfleet to the private spirit against the publick Testimony of the Church Proposition XX. No mans faith can therefore be infallible meerly because the Proponent is said to be infallible because the nature of Assent doth not depend upon the objective infallibility of any thing without us but is agreeable to the evidence we have of it in our mindes for Assent is not built on the nature of things but their evidence to us The 20. Proposition wants explanation There are two sorts of Assent one is grounded upon clear evidence of the truth assented unto and is an intellectual sight thereof the other is grounded upon authority that is upon the Author or Speakers Veracity or Inclination to truth The first kinde of assent is agreeable and bears proportion with the evidence we have of it in our mindes and is infallible if the evidence be clear as it is in some undeniable principles and in their immediate Conclusions But the assent built upon authority which is Faith dependeth in its Infallibility upon the infallibility of the Infallible Authour or Proponent apprehended to be so by us and this independently of any Evidence we have of the truth or nature of things without us and therefore this 20. Proposition is absolutely false Proposition XXI It is therefore necessary in order to an Infallible Assent that every particular person be infallibly assisted in judging of the matter proposed to him to be believed so that the ground on which a necessity of some external infallible Proponent is asserted must rather make every particular Person infallible if no divine faith can be without an infallible Assent and so renders any other infallible useless The 21. Proposition is also false it being only a consequence from the former A fallible person may give an infallible assent in matters of faith because the truth and assurance of such an Assent is not to be measured by any inward evidence the Assenter hath of the matter of Mystery believed but supposing the outward appearance of the supernatural signes of the Church by the grace that God gives to assure us that himself is the Authour of the Doctrine so proposed And though the appearance of the signes of the Church exceeds not a moral certainty of God being the Authour of the Churches Doctrine yet our assurance of that same truth is more then moral because we build not the assurance and certainty of our Catholick faith or of the Infallibility of the Church upon those motives of eredibility and the outward appearance of their connexion with the Truth but upon Gods Veracity Goodness and his aversness from any falshood which is so great that we do as firmly beleeve he will no more permit a Church so likely to be his as the Roman-Catholick Church is to erre and leade us into any falshood then he would own himself Authour or Countenancer of that falshood and fraud Proposition XXII If no particular person be infallible in the assent he gives to matters proposed by others to him then no man can be infallibly sure that the Church is infallible and so the Churches Infallibility can signifie nothing to our infallible assurance without an equal Infallibility in our selves in the belief of it The 22. Proposition signifies nothing if you will reflect upon what hath been now said every faithful is infallible inasmuch as he agreeth with the Doctrine of the Church and the Churches Infallibility is one point of that Doctrine The 23. Proposition is composed of absurd